6 — Friday, July 9, 1999 - North Shore News U wouldn’t think him much of a road warrior, but North Vancouver District Mayor Don Bell has assumed that role as the head of the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s air quality committee. The committee recently released a report on the air quality outlook for the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley areas. Prognosis from the mayor and the rest of the committee: not good. Cleaner Lower Mainiand air is not in the cards for the foreseeable future, according to the committee’s report. If anything, the air we all breathe is about to get much worse. Factors contributing to that air quality erosion range from increased population to its attendant urban development. But one of the main cul- prits in local air quality degradation is the private automobile. mailbox Recreation use at heart of rink ruckus ~ ‘Dear Editor: :In respect of the article writteri i by, Brady Fotheringham, »_fegarding the ‘reallocation. of curling rink space, there are "twa important facts that should have been considered. astics Club is as public as the curling club. ; Any t mi mber of the public can enrol i in an appropriate pro- Flicka Gymn C non-profit society under the -. Act Fea legislation), but there are no exclu- er membership qualifications or in program par- 800 gymnasts in Flicka are all public participants. ; Flicka serves the. open, public community that is represent “Jed by the:Norch: Shore: Recreation Commission, and it b: north shore news VIEWPOINT Reducing its environmental impact is rapidly reaching the upper end of technological abilities. So, with Lower Mainland p-pula- tions growing and automobile use inevitably rising, what to do? Mayor Don and the other GVRD road warriors are currently knitting brows over that question and its accompanying puzzle cf how to get more Lower Mainland residents out of their cars. But the answer resides in the simple reality that you won’t get people out of their cars unless it pays. Rapid transit has to be more conve- nient and cheaper to use than the pri- vate automobile. And a penalty needs to be levied against the consumers of vehicles that use more fuel and pollute more. In the fight for cleaner air, money remains the most effective combatant. Leave deprivations in West Vancouver’s Lighthouse Park? My heart is heavy with the thought. Ic is being bruited (no, not bruted) about that West Vancouver council is weighing requiring dogs to be leashed in the park. Declaration of inter- est: Our family has " waiked our dogs there for. : 15 years. Declaration of guilt: - Yes, doubtless they have done their share of » - scratching the forest floor BURNING guestion of the week: Will dogs woke the rap for mankind’s always: been’ th f the club to have as many North as possible p: rticipate, in the program struc: ission needs to. be aware of the fis- ¢ of its facilities. Wile this sometimes means difficult decisions, the com- rise yn is mandated to ‘ensure the most effective use of faci!- Vi aan presented 2 at a recent North Vancouver , the ctirlers-have an average subsidy of is three times the’ average subsidy. for sion participants, ‘Thus the need for fat will still allow the curlers to is an important component of this decision. s.a' former member of the-Flicka board of directors,I been ware. of. some Principles: not addressed by. your — dogs being dogs, and the park being a wonderful place for them to run like hell. “It’s obvious to this layman that dogs *_ walked solely on feashes never get to cxer- cise their large muscles, never pump blood, never expand their lungs properly. And I accept that the authorities are right in declaring that the forest floor is deiicate — as very respected and experi- enced scientists like Dr, Murray Newman, long-time director of the Vancouver “Aquarium and tong a resident at the park entrance, sa _ But the "dogs deserve an advocate.’ *- TL suspeet that the mushircom-harvesters ° who: materialize at the appropriate season nly noc: “gymnasts Versus curlers”; 0) balance - between: the: numbers ‘of ing public facilities and the need to, ible’ use of th c facile ~ who wanders off the trails. Wor Shore Mew, cunded in 1860s an |= * »/ tandependent suburban newspaper and quwvified «under Schade 111, Paragraph 111 ofthe "scratch the surface too. And anyone cise Also, the movie and television shoots i in . the park are being accused of doing dam- age, (In, fairness, some of the production... “companies” employees approach park regu’: © _ dost ina a friendly attempt f to apologize for : A CHILD'S INTROVUCTION To Jusmce: Hey! WHERES “WEAR NO EVIL” AND "6DEAK NO EVIL"? the inconvenience.) But, allowing thar the flora might be® taking a beating, I'd question whether the fauna are less numerous than they were 15 years ago. I’ve never scen’a raccoon, rab- bit, coyote or any ani- mals larger than squir- rels in the park — in winter morning pitch darkness or in daylight. Anyway, mankind’s affection for nature is extremely anthropocen- tic. We love nature — on our terms. The beautiful engincering of | the mosquito’s blood- sucking apparatus tends to be lost when we're bitten by them. And a few years ago a bear. wandered into the park. It was shot. The blunt fact is that Lighthouse is so popular on warm summer days that the ” canine contribution to.any degradation of “the park is surely only’ one factor. _My long-held view is that if we really care about nature, let’s seal off Canada’s . wilderness parks and leave them to the wildlife. Even a single person, a single : invasive footstep, degrades and alters the Jan And speaking of people, there are won- derful dog people — mostly women, in grotips of half a dozen or mere who meet every morning and walk their dogs together, bot at Lighthouse and at Cypréss civic park. Truly a delightful West. : Vancouver custom, part of the elegance of our unique town. Liberal Jerem and is often a ri ae Dalton is widely liked | tly. outspoken ent in Ww Awe we laws out of Lighthouse | the B.C. legislature. But I’m obliged to: predict that — having twice ansioyed an: embarrassed party leader Gordon.” Campbell — it wouldn’t be surprising if lie faced 3 tough nomination battie.should he ~ choose to run again in the next Provincial election. oom”, ; After my piece last week on. Dave ” Stupich, Bill Cave, my delightful insurance agent who shares with me:a great love fo Stephen Leacock’s writing, Ontario’ Niagara frontier and B.C. politics, brought up an aspect of “Bingogate™. that threatens to harden into legend. Naiicly, was ic fair that Mike Harcourt nobly resi gnc over the scandal, even though the back schemes had begun before. . Harcourv’s watch as New Democzati Party leader and premier: Nothing nobie about it whom I rsonaly like, by the way repeatedly refused to call a public in d uiry, into Stupich" s revolting thefts ted, from charities. When the ooze rose to his nostrils, | Harcourt ha _ choice but to go. -In his self exculpating memoir, Measure of Defiance , Harcourt. con ’ exonerates himself and the: NDP.(“ was a story largely about one perso: David Daniel Stupich”), and otra geously — sneers at the bestow! prestigious Michener Award on ‘Sua’ reporter Mark Hume, who broke the story. Hume is one of the mo: . reporters in my long’ »: Harcourt portrays his astounded by. Stupich’s 1 ola sible ~ and a scapegoat for. them (irsplausible). ° That’s his story. I don’t buy i ton lantens@axien ~ LETTERS io THE EDITOR Pa * Letters reaist| include your nama, full address & telephone number. WA emai: trenishaw @ directica a Managing Editor BS-2N 1115.